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Fast Feathers
When the longbeards start talking to the timber, every Louisiana sportsman concentrates on finding a place to hunt, and lucky for us, the Bayou State has productive public lands. […]
Articles by John E. Phillips
Fishing Tournaments
Classic anglers talk about event
The Bassmaster Classic ended with Kevin VanDam winning his third championship title in an event forecasted to be one of small weights and tough fishing. […]
Fishing Tournaments
Kriet moves past KVD for Classic lead
Jeff Kriet, Kevin VanDam and Todd Faircloth are sharing water in the same creek, but it was Kriet who got the upper hand today with a 15-pound, 10-ounce limit to push his total to a Bassmaster Classic-leading 31-1. […]
Fishing Tournaments
VanDam leads Bassmaster Classic, ‘feels good’ about second day
There apparently was some sandbagging coming into the first day of the 2010 Bassmaster Classic, with most of the field of 51 anglers talking about how tough fishing conditions would be on Lay Lake. […]
Fishing Tournaments
Classic begins tomorrow, pros discuss strategy
Fifty-one of the top professional bass anglers will launch on Alabama’s Lay Lake tomorrow morning as the 2010 Bassmaster Classic kicks off. […]
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Shut up to call ducks
Ducks don’t talk to each other nearly as much as hunters think, especially during the late season. Just as a roomful of people will migrate away from a loud, obnoxious guy who tries to dominate the conversation, ducks will exhibit the same behavior. […]
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Top 3 for Deer
To raise trophy deer, you need to establish a long-term land-management program, including plans for supplemental feeding, green-field planting, protecting younger age-class bucks and maintaining your herd under the carrying capacity of the land. […]
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Weather or Not
With the wind blowing at 20 knots, Lake Calcasieu looked like a chocolate milkshake. Most fair-weather fishermen had cancelled their trips, but Kirk and Guy Stansel, who fish there 250 days a year, would brave rain, sleet, snow or bright, hot sun to get you in a boat and try to find you fish. […]
Bass Fishing
Purple, Green, Gold and Red
The entire fishing world will have its eyes focused on the Red River near Shreveport in February for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic. The best bass fishermen of 2008 will compete for the $1/2-million first prize and plenty more trickle-down money. […]
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Bank-Busting Big ’Uns
As the Mister Twister Exude RT Slug twitched and darted just under the surface, I saw an explosion. Instantly, I set the hook and listened to my drag sing the sweet music of hooking up with a monster trout. […]
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Grander Tuna
Kevin Carter resembled a marathon runner trying to sprint up the last hill to the finish line at the end of a race. Drenched in sweat from head to toe, his muscles rippled. […]
Bass Fishing
Doomed!
Bass once made up much of my family’s diet from the 1960s until the mid-1980s. If you go back to the history of catch and release, you’ll see that Ray Scott, founder of B.A.S.S., originally initiated this program, since he’d received so much criticism in the early days of B.A.S.S about his tournament anglers catching and killing large numbers of big bass. […]
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Calcasieu in the Fall
The pink rod made a question mark as the MirrOlure She Dog vanished in an explosion on the surface. When the line knifed through the water, my guide, Kirk Stansel, one of the owners of Hackberry Rod and Gun, and I both wondered aloud, “Speckled trout or redfish?” […]
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Duck Season Warmup
As the hunter called excitedly, he could see the reaction from the birds when his notes hit them. They spotted the decoys and came in over the water as though the caller had them on a string, although he’d put his blind on the bank. […]
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Speaking Squirrel-ese
Your squirrel call doesn’t work,” I told Shannon Talkington, the inventor of the Mr. Squirrel whistle call. […]
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Cotton-Picking Bluegills
If you’re going to catch the most and the biggest bluegills from any bluegill bed, you have to pick bluegills just like you pick cotton,” said Nathaniel Davis, an elderly outdoor friend who helped me learn to hunt and fish many years ago. “You know how to pick cotton, don’t you?” […]